Look at Turkish Airlines' New Lego Movie Safety Video (and a Few Others That Stand Out)

Last year, Philippine Airlines released its "Heart of the Nation" inflight safety video. It was lauded for showing off different tourist destinations around the Philippines, and crowdsourcing its actors from each of the featured locations.

It's certainly a nice change from the video they released back in 2009, which portrayed an endearing old man getting schooled in basic safety procedures. While the video was cute, tongue-in-cheek, and entertaining when it was first released, over the years it began to feel rather dated. Today, the scene with the flight attendants in life vests sashaying into the darkness like line dancers  is a little cringey.

As it turns out, however, our local safety videos are pretty tame compared to what foreign airlines have come up with. Airlines like Air New Zealand, Virgin America, and British Airways have pulled out all the stops in creating inflight videos passengers will actually enjoy and pay attention to. The results range from genuinely fun and entertaining to completely bizarre. 

Turkish Airlines (2018)

Turkish Airlines' latest safety video takes the cake by starring characters from The Lego Movie, including Emmet and Wyldstyle, with appearances by Batman, Robin, Superman, and Unikitty, just to name a few. The clip even pokes fun at what have become common safety video tropes, such as using celebrities and dance numbers to hold passengers' interest. 

British Airways (2017)

You don't need a lot of gimmicks when you've got the likes of Sir Ian McKellen, Gordon Ramsay, Gillian Anderson, and Rowan Atkinson explaining your safety features. This film has several British celebrities auditioning for an inflight video—a premise so absurd, it's actually quite funny. 

Air New Zealand (2014)

Let's face it—unless you're the outdoorsy, nature-loving type, you're visiting New Zealand to see Middle Earth. Air New Zealand milks this fact for all it's worth with "The Most Epic Safety Video Ever Made," in which Elvish flight attendants explain safety features, and Elijah Wood, Peter Jackson, and Sylvester McCoy make cameos. Whether or not you're a Lord of the Rings fan, you're sure to get a kick out of this one. 

Virgin America (2013)

Why make a run-of-the-mill video when you can turn it into a full musical bonanza? Directed by Jon Chu (known for Justin Bieber: Never Say Never, Step Up 2, and Step Up 3D), the film goes through different musical genres and features performers from So You Think You Can Dance. For a moment, we almost forgot how terrible America's airlines are and wanted to book a flight. Either way, we'll be playing the song on a loop. 

Air New Zealand (2011)

If this doesn't hold your attention, we don't know what will. Banking on '80s nostalgia, Air New Zealand got American fitness guru Richard Simmons to do an aerobics-themed safety video titled "Mile-High Madness."

Air New Zealand (2013)

At this point, Air New Zealand is the king of inflight videos. In 2013, they got Betty White (best known for starring in Golden Girls) to explain airplane safety "old-school style" at a retirement home. The result is downright adorable. 

Worst Videos

Delta Airlines (2015)

It looks like Delta Airlines' attempts to replicate the success of their Internetest Safety Video on the Internet fell flat. With squirrels, monsters, and creepy ventriloquist dummies, this video is just too random, weird, and ultimately corny.

Air New Zealand (2017)

While keeping things fresh is generally a good thing, Air New Zealand produces new inflight presentations so often, they were bound to come up with a dud at some point. Fantastical Journey is a little too trippy, with Katie Holmes and Cuba Gooding Jr. naming islands and dipping pink marshallows in hot mud pools. Portraying God in a white suit is best left to Morgan Freeman, and when it comes to safety videos featuring tourist destinations, we'll stick with Philippine Airlines, thanks.